Italy - Factors to watch on Dec. 3

Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).

For a complete list of diary events in Italy please click on .

POLITICS (*) Italy is negotiating with the European Commission to reduce its 2019 target for the budget deficit to 2.0 percent of gross domestic product, or even below, newspapers La Repubblica and La Stampa said on Monday, quoting Finance Minister Giovanni Tria. .

Conte said on Saturday Italy was making good progress in negotiations with the European Commission over the government’s contested 2019 budget.

“We make more progress at every meeting we have,” he told reporters at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, where he and Economy Minister Giovanni Tria discussed the budget with top European Commission officials including President Jean-Claude Juncker.

“We are looking at points that could be the basis for a possible solution.”

ECONOMY

Markit/ADACI releases November PMI manufacturing (0845 GMT).

Transport ministry releases November car sales data (1700 GMT).

November state sector borrowing requirement data.

BANCO BPM

Banco BPM has reached a deal over its consumer credit business with French rival Credit Agricole which will help it to sell 7.8 billion euros ($8.83 billion) of bad loans, Italy’s third-largest bank said late on on Friday.

Banco BPM will boost its capital by selling its consumer credit business Pro Family to an existing joint venture it has with Credit Agricole for 310 million euros.

FIAT (*) Fitch raised its long term rating on the carmaker by one notch to BBB-, with a stable oulook.

Italy is among several European countries that have either ordered vehicle recalls by carmakers over diesel emissions cheating or plan to do so, German weekly Bild am Sonntag reported without citing sources.

Italy is seeking to impose a recall of the Fiat 500x, the weekly said. Fiat FCHA.MI was not immediately available for comment.

MEDIASET

Italian private broadcaster Mediaset said on Friday it had sold to Sky’s Italian unit the whole of R2, a company which includes the maintenance and commercial assets carved out of its pay-TV unit Premium.

BANCA CARIGE

Italy’s Banca Carige said on Friday it had issued a 320 million euro ($362 million) subordinated bond as part of a rescue deal financed by the country’s healthy lenders.

It is “reasonable” that the depositors’ guarantee fund financed by the country’s banks could become Carige’s main shareholder, with around 30 percent of the lender’s shares, after the capital increase and in case the bond is reimbursed in new shares, La Repubblica said on Saturday. This would push the fund to consider means to lower its share and its voting rights as by statue it cannot take control of the bank.

TELECOM ITALIA

Italy’s top administrative court temporarily confirmed on Friday that Telecom Italia, Vodafone, Wind and Fastweb should reimburse clients over their 28-day billing policy by the end of this year.

(*) BANCA GENERALI

The Italian asset manager confirmed its dividend policy, with a payout between 70 percent and 80 percent, as it released its strategic guidelines and financial targets for 2019-2021. .

GENERALI

Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone has bought shares in the insurer, raising his shareholding to 4.60 percent. Also Leonardo Del Vecchio has increased its stake in Generali, bringing it to 3.59 percent, regulatory filings showed in Friday.

(*) ENI

The Italian major is in talks to grow its footprint in Oman and the United Arab Emirates as part of plans to build its asset base in the oil-rich Gulf and offset its reliance on Africa, a source close to the matter said. (*) FINCANTIERI

The shipbuilder will meet with France’s Naval Group before Christmas to discuss details of their planned tie-up, Corriere Economia said on Monday. (*) SAFILO

The Chief Operating Officer Angelo Trocchia told Repubblica business weekly that investors think the eyewear maker plan is credible and that the company has several “contacts” with potenstial premium brands for licensing contracts. The company capital increase kicks off on Monday.

RETELIT

The group said on Friday that Italy’s Prime Minister has imposed upon Retelit a sanction of 140,137 euros corresponding to 1 percent of the relevant revenue. The group reaffirmed the correctness of its actions and said it reserved the right to undertake appropriate actions.

FARMAFACTORING

The group said on Friday it had launched an EMTN issuance programme worth 1 billion euros.

DATALOGIC

Datalogic said on Friday the group’s CFO resigns as of Jan. 20, 2019.

UBI BANCA

Fitch Ratings said on Friday it affirmed UBI Banca long-term issuer default rating at ‘BBB-‘ with a negative outlook.